Joint replacement surgery is well known in the art. It has provided many individuals near-normal joint function when it otherwise would not be possible to do so. Artificial joints usually comprise metallic, ceramic and/or plastic components that are fixed to existing bone. For example, knee arthroplasty is a well known surgical procedure by which a diseased and/or damaged natural knee joint is replaced with a prosthetic knee joint. A surgeon typically affixes two prosthesis components to the patient's femur and tibia. These replacement components are typically known as the femoral component and the tibial component. The femoral component is placed on a patient's distal femur after the surgeon makes a plurality of surgical cuts. A common type of tibial prosthesis uses a laterally extending base that is shaped to conform to the patient's proximal tibia after the proximal tibia has been cut transversely by the surgeon. The tibia prosthesis also includes a stem or plug that extends generally perpendicular or angled slightly to the base and from the center of the tibial base. The stem is placed in a surgically formed opening that extends into the patient's intramedullary canal from the transverse cut formed on the proximal tibia. A plastic, polymeric insert is attached to the tibial base. This insert provides a tibial articulating surface that articulates with the femoral articulating surface as the patient's tibia moves through a full range of motion with respect to the patient's femur.